Which One
by Tsukita
Summary: A simple childhood game can hold a deeper meaning than one may think. Implied RxC. One shot.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Yup, this story is a birthday present for a special friend, but if it's someone else's birthday ... well, I guess this can be your present too! I hope everyone likes it ... if you don't, tell me why. But no flames please. Oh, and if you're looking for something to do, why not leave a nice review for one of my buddy Ves's stories! It'll be a little birthday present for her.

Last thing. I spell it 'Chrno' since that's how it supposedly is in the Japanese version. Just ignore the missing o if you don't like it.

Disclaimer: Don't own Chrno. Just three little words can tear you apart inside ...

**Which One?**

"Ugh, Chrno, how do you put up with so much!"

"What are you talking about? I thought it was pretty fun."

"Sure. If your definition of 'fun' is exhausting!"

Rosette and her partner, Chrno, had just returned from the children's medical ward, a punishment dealt by Sister Kate for the wreck of another building. The obstinate Rosette had claimed it wasn't her fault; it was the demon who caused the old warehouse to collapse (and it was falling apart anyhow), but the head sister would have none of it. Along with her usual written apologies, the destructive blonde would have to visit and serve hospitalized children for a whole week. Chrno had decided on accompanying her to help out (and to make sure she didn't strangle any of the nurses if she lost her temper). Supposedly, the service time would help Rosette become more careful and less impulsive. Chrno could've told you otherwise.

"Remind me never to have kids, Chrno," Rosette groaned as she threw herself onto her bed, burying her face in the silken sheets. The demon standing in the doorway rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"Come on, Rosette, I know you at least had _some _fun!" The purple haired devil knew that on any other day, his partner would be happy to help out at the children's ward. However, since working there was a punishment, Rosette acted like it was the worst thing that could ever happen to her.

"You can't tell me you didn't like talking to that little girl recovering from pneumonia," he tried again.

The sister lifted her head from the bed, laughing slightly. "Her name was Kate, but I had to call her Katie because I didn't want to be reminded of the old hag who sent me to the hospital in the first place." Chrno sweatdropped as Rosette's giggles turned into outright laughter. "Kate was so sweet and funny and understanding, also so unlike another person who shares her name," Rosette added, but after she stopped speaking she realized her mistake. Chrno was smiling at her with a knowing look on his childlike face as if to say, 'You see? I knew you enjoyed it.'

"But I still hated it!" Rosette pouted, stubbornly turning away from her demon companion. "Those two boys, Benjamin and what's-his-name, kept making faces at me every time I turned around, and they never even thanked me for bringing them their lunch! One of them threw a carrot stick at me, too!"

"You threw it back ..."

"That's not the point! Oh, and that little bratty girl basically told me how much better than everyone else she was - including me! All she talked about was herself, and it was always, 'I got to go out and get my hair styled, and my mom says it's the prettiest hair in the world! Maybe if you got yours done, you'd look better too.'"

Chrno's expression turned sympathetic. "You know, the doctors believe that girl will only live for another year or so. She may have just been trying to cheer herself up."

Rosette grew quiet, analyzing his words. "I guess," she began, "we have something in common, not knowing how much time we have left that is." Chrno felt a pang of guilt knowing he was the cause of his beloved partner's troubles. He was the disease that was devouring her time, her life, her _soul_.

"Hey, don't think about that, ok?" the teenaged girl said softly, understanding exactly what was going through his mind. "I'm here now, and that's all that matters." The corners of Chrno's mouth curled upwards slightly as the room was engulfed in a silence that wasn't awkward, but couldn't be considered comfortable either. During this time, Rosette seemed like she wanted to ask her demon friend a question, but wasn't sure how to put it. Chrno took notice of this and asked, "Is something wrong?" The girl shook her head, was silent for several more seconds, then suddenly blurted out, "Chrno, do you want kids someday?"

The devil was taken by surprise, and he quickly felt a blush spreading across his cheeks. Turning his face away from her to hide his embarrassment, he mumbled, "I don't know; why do you ask?"

Rosette shrugged. "I was just curious. I always thought you would make a good father, and seeing you playing with the children was really cute, so . . ." she trailed off, waiting for his answer.

Chrno wasn't sure if his face had ever been this red before. It wasn't necessarily the question that embarrassed him, it was the thoughts that were running through his head at the moment. (AN: Use your imagination. XD)

"I never really thought about it before . . . but I think kids would be nice."

"How many?"

'These random questions are going to turn my face permanently scarlet,' Chrno thought, but nevertheless he answered, "I think one of each . . . yes, I'd like that."

Rosette, satisfied with his response, didn't plan on asking him anything else, but all of a sudden another question popped into her head.

"Why do you like kids so much anyway?"

Chrno didn't even hesitate. "Because children don't judge. They see a person for who they are instead of what they are, and they have no concept of differences in people. Children see through eyes unclouded by hatred, for they are innocent and pure in every sense of the word."

"Wow," was all Rosette could manage to say. She hadn't expected his answer to be so, well, _deep_. "Eyes unclouded . . ." she repeated, and Chrno nodded.

"You were like that when you were younger, too, Rosette," he told her with an adorable smile. "You . . . and Joshua." The sister raised her head, her sapphire eyes meeting his fiery red orbs.

"How so?" she asked, genuinely curious. Chrno had to think for a moment, but he quickly found an example to share with her.

"Do you remember, about a month after you two found me, the game we played together?"

Rosette seemed to recall various games that she and her little brother had created, and she remembered dragging Chrno into quite a lot of them. Acting out his stories, pretending to be pioneers, common ones like hide-and-go-seek; how was she supposed to know the specific game he was talking about?

Voicing her confusion, she asked, "Which one?"

Chrno only grinned back at her.

"Exactly."

**Flashback**

"CHRNO! HEY!"

The sounds of a little girl's voice broke through the silence of the forest, awakening a peaceful demon who had been leaning against the trunk of an old tree. He stirred, opened his blood red eyes, and stretched. The afternoon nap had thoroughly relaxed him, but it always made his day to see the two friendly faces he had come to love so dearly. The one known as Chrno waved to the approaching children, smiling at them in a special way reserved for their eyes only. A young girl and a slightly younger boy reached their destination, completely out of breath. Chrno watched them with amusement as they panted for air, knowing that they had run the whole way just to see him. It made him happy to know they cared so much.

"Chrno, we had so much fun today!" the boy exclaimed once he was able to breathe normally again. His sister nodded, looking just as enthusiastic.

"Ms. Jean made up a new game for us because everyone was so wound up and-"

"I told you you put too much sugar in those cookies you baked this morning, Rosette."

"Who asked you! Well, anyway, Ms. Jean made up a game to keep us occupied, and it was lots of fun! She called it 'Which One.'"

Chrno was used to being a part of their games, so he asked kindly, "How do you play?" The kids were more than happy to tell him.

"Well, Ms. Jean randomly picked three of us and made us stand in a line, and then she would ask the rest of the kids, 'Which one doesn't belong?'" the girl known as Rosette explained.

"Sometimes it would be something really obvious. The first time, she made Sarah, Nellie, and I stand up, and everyone guessed right away that I was the one that didn't belong," Joshua continued where she left off. "I was the only boy!"

"But sometimes it was really hard," Rosette added. "Like when Joshua, Billy, and Kevin were picked, and everyone kept coming up with different ideas. Most of them were pretty good, but Ms. Jean was thinking that Joshua was the different one because he didn't have buttons on his shirt."

"Come to think of it, I was usually the odd man out when Ms. Jean had me stand up," Joshua laughed.

"It's because you ARE odd!" his sister teased, taking pleasure in the fact that she made him scowl.

"So will you play with us, Chrno?" Rosette asked, and Joshua, forgetting the previous comment, gazed at the demon with anticipation. The truth was, Chrno didn't want to play. He had tolerated, sometimes even enjoyed, each game they begged him to join, but this just seemed like a cruel reminder of what he was. 'It'll be the first thing they say,' he thought to himself. ''The different one is Chrno because he's a devil. He doesn't belong.''

Rosette and Joshua noticed the somber expression that the devil had acquired within the last ten seconds and asked in unison, "What's wrong?"

Chrno shook his head and changed the subject. "How do we play if there are only three people?"

"Oh, that's easy!" Rosette replied. "We'll just take turns choosing which one of us is different, and we can keep going until we all run out of ideas!" Joshua nodded, his grin widening and becoming contagious.

Chrno had asked the question in hopes that they would decide to play something else, but children were persistent. He should have known that. Heaving a sigh, the devil mumbled, "Alright, let's play."

The chorus of cheers was expected, but it made Chrno feel all the more unhappy about the game. He sighed a second time. 'Let's just get this over with ...'

"Woohoo! I'll go first!" Rosette exclaimed, picking up a skinny stray tree branch and pointing it toward Joshua. "I say ... _you're_ the one who doesn't belong because you don't have pretty braids like Chrno and I do!"

That was certainly not what Chrno had imagined the first answer to be.

"Oh yeah, well I say you don't belong because me and Chrno are men, and you're not!" Joshua retorted.

"You aren't a man! You're not even a teenager yet!"

"Neither are you!"

"Well I'm closer to being one than you are!"

"Oh, Chrno, it's your turn!" the younger sibling said, wanting to continue the game instead of arguing. The violet haired demon glanced up to see two pairs of ocean blue eyes watching him, anxious to hear his answer. He averted his gaze to his feet and replied in a soft voice, "Maybe . . . I'm the one who doesn't belong. I'm a - I mean I'm not a human like both of you are." Silence as thick as fog surrounded the trio, making Chrno want to disappear more than ever.

"Wow! That's a really good answer, Chrno!" Joshua congratulated, and his sister nodded.

"Yeah! I never thought of that one," she laughed, "but I still say Joshua is the different one!"

'Never thought of that? How could they not have?' Chrno thought to himself, confused with the children's response. They continued to argue, not once choosing Chrno as the person who didn't belong, while the devil searched for the reasoning behind their answers.

'Could it be that they've overlooked what I am? But how could they? I'm a devil; does that not mean anything to them?' Chrno watched his 'children' in their playful battle, arguing over which one of them didn't belong with him, and he felt a smile make its way to his lips. 'I'm just another friend to them; they don't care whether or not I'm human. They see no differences between us,' he concluded, his smile growing wider with each passing second. 'I'm in awe of what children are capable of accepting.'

"You know, I think instead of pointing out differences, we should talk about how we're all the same," Rosette suggested, and Chrno beamed at her.

"I've got one!" Joshua announced, his eyes darting back and forth between his friend and his sister. Chrno awaited the observation, expecting something sweet with a sense of childlike wisdom to it. Unfortunately, no such comment came.

"The biggest reason we're all so much alike is because ... all three of us have flat chests!"

Rosette, disregarding her brother's sickness for the time being, grabbed the branch she had been using earlier and whacked him with it until Chrno intervened, afraid that Joshua would acquire severe head trauma if he didn't. Aside from that little incident, his day could have been considered perfect.

**End Flashback**

"Oh yeah . . . I think I remember that game!" Rosette giggled, standing up and stretching. Chrno kept his eyes closed, still lost in the memory of when he had first truly felt accepted. The sister made her way over to him and tapped him on the head, whispering his name in a singsong voice. When she received no response, Plan B was put into action. Rosette bent down to ear level, got as close to Chrno's face as possible, and screamed, "WAKE UP!" in her loudest, most annoying voice. The devil jumped, his eyes snapping open in surprise before narrowing at his snickering companion.

"Couldn't you find another way to get my attention that doesn't involve you shouting at me?" he growled, but was met with only a smirk and a noogie.

"Oh, I _could_ come up with an easier way, but my way is just more fun!" Chrno grunted, escaping from the clutches of his violent (and possibly sadistic) friend and turned to leave, but a certain someone was blocking the doorway.

"Hi, Azmaria! I didn't see you standing there," Rosette greeted her apostle friend. Chrno smiled at the young girl in recognition.

"Hi Rosette, hi Chrno. I was just coming to see if you wanted to go eat din-"

The pale haired beauty wasn't even able to finish her sentence, for at that moment Rosette dashed out the door, shouting, "Hurry up! They're serving hamburgers tonight!" Chrno and Azmaria chuckled at her antics and hurried to catch up with Rosette 'the tornado,' who waited impatiently for them. Suddenly a mischievous smirk crossed her features, but she replaced it instantly with an angelic smile.

"Hey Az, want to play a game?"

Azmaria, startled by the random question, asked quietly, "Umm, what kind of game, Rosette?"

The blonde sister was quick to answer, "It's called 'Which One,' and what you have to do is say which one of us is different. It's really easy; sometimes you come up with the most bizarre answers and it makes the game really funny!"

The apostle smiled and agreed to play, but was faced with the challenge of going first.

"Ok, I'll bet ... um ... I'm the different one because I'm ... younger than the two of you," she answered shyly, and Rosette laughed.

"Maybe, but I'll bet I'm the different one because both of you eat like birds while I can't get enough food!" she replied, glancing back at Chrno and winking. He was smiling at the two of them the same way he had smiled at Joshua and Rosette when they were younger, for only Rosette could make him feel completely accepted inside a devil-hating convent.

Yes, he definitely wanted kids. Perhaps he would name them after the two children who had changed his life for the better in so many ways. 'I think I'll do that,' Chrno thought, smiling to himself. He stared off ahead, admiring the sixteen-year-old who had once been one of his children, but had grown into such a beautiful young woman.

'And if I'm lucky, the girl will be named after her mother ...'

**End**

Please forgive me for any mistakes you find in the story, for this one wasn't edited like my last fic was. My 'editor' was . . . erm, asleep and I needed to post it before my friend's birthday was over, so ... yeah. Hopefully everyone liked it anyway, especially birthday girl over here! So drop a review for me please; I love compliments and criticism is welcome. Thanks!

God Bless!


End file.
